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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25573555">Maybe It’s Karma</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlemystery/pseuds/alittlemystery'>alittlemystery</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Good Girls (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Post-Season/Series 03, Sexual Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:08:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,305</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25573555</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlemystery/pseuds/alittlemystery</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The blood spurts out of her mouth and down her chin, she tries to cough, to catch her breath but that just makes it worse. She can hear someone yelling at her, over her, touching her. She tries to focus on it but they sound underwater, her sight all hazy, numbness spreading throughout her body.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Beth Boland/Rio</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>99</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>478</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Beth seems pretty invincible on this show, but what if in season 4 she wasn’t?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The blood spurts out of her mouth and down her chin, she tries to cough, to catch her breath but that just makes it worse. She can hear someone yelling at her, over her, touching her. She tries to focus on it but they sound underwater, her sight all hazy, numbness spreading throughout her body.</p><p>
  <b> <em>6 hours earlier </em> </b>
</p><p>“Yo, we got a meet” Rio greets, settling onto the park bench next to her, watching as Marcus runs up to the Boland crew, immediately being pulled over to the swings by Jane.</p><p>They had started meeting up at the park again not long after Boland Bubbles opened, at first not really saying much, just watching their kids play together. Then they started to make small conversation, always to do with their kids, never them. Until she mentioned her divorce, earning an eyebrow raise and lingering look from him. </p><p>Annie and Ruby never came to the drops anymore, neither did any of Rio’s boys, she’d occasionally see Mick with him when he’d drop by the store but it was always when they had somewhere else to be straight after. He came alone when he planned to stick around for a while, for whatever reason they’re both choosing not to acknowledge for now.</p><p>“When?” Beth asks, wincing when Jane catapults from the still moving swing.</p><p>Rio looks on with amusement. “8, I’ll pick you up”</p><p>“I’ll get Annie to watch the kids” she nods, moving to reach down into her bag for two juice boxes when she sees Emma and Jane running towards them.</p><p>“Hi Mr Rio” Jane grins, accepting the juice box from Beth with a quick thank you. Emma smiles at him softly, echoing her sister's greeting as she bypasses sitting on the bench to sit on Beth's lap, causing Beth to grunt a little at the added weight of an 8 year old but quickly wraps her arms around the little girl, snuggling into her.</p><p>“Can you come play soccer?” Jane asks, bouncing up and down slightly.</p><p>“Not today kid” Rio shrugs</p><p>Jane pouts a little before turning around to shout over to Kenny, Danny and Marcus. “He’s scared he’s gonna lose”</p><p>“Jane” Beth laughs</p><p>Rio gapes in mock outrage. “You’re on short stuff” he leaps up off the bench causing Jane to run off squealing.</p><p>Turning back to the bench he watches as Beth whispers something into Emma’s ear causing her to giggle. “You not comin lil ma?”</p><p>Emma shakes her head, squinting a little from the sun as she smiles up at him. “No I’ll watch with mommy”</p><p>The game of soccer went on a lot longer than Beth anticipated, all of the kids trudging their way over to the bench out of breath and tired. Rio sporting a fine sheen of sweat along his forehead despite the crisp fall air but otherwise looking like he hadn’t just ran around with four children for the past half an hour.</p><p> </p><hr/><p><br/>“Okay so where are you going again?” Annie asks between throwing popcorn in the air and catching it in her mouth.</p><p>Beth whirls around holding one of Jane's rain boots, giving up on locating the other. “I’m not exactly sure” she shrugs, placing the lone boot with the other shoes, not even sure why she’s bothering to tidy the place up when she knows Annie will most definitely make a mess anyway.</p><p>Annie freezes, popcorn hitting her cheek before bouncing to the floor, causing Beth to huff in annoyance, bending down to pick it up. “Do you have to go?”</p><p>“Annie it’s fine, we’re partners remember? If it was a drop he would’ve just done it himself but it’s some sort of meeting, it looks better if we show up together” </p><p>“Okay” Annie smirks</p><p>Beth feels her phone vibrating in her pocket, her eyes widening not realising the time “Shit uh...” she fumbles around finding her coat, arm fighting with the sleeve as she opens the door.</p><p>“The girls are in bed but Danny and Kenny are playing video games in their room. Can you make sure they come off at 8:30? I shouldn’t even be long, like an hour maybe or..”</p><p>“It’s Saturday” Annie rolls her eyes, pushing her out the house. Shaking her head as she watches Beth awkwardly walk to the car. Grinning she calls out to her just as she opens the passenger door “Make good choices” <br/><br/></p><hr/><p><br/>“So, who is this guy?” Beth asks, breaking the silence after being in the car for 20 minutes, glancing at him occasionally from the passenger seat. Things are getting better between them, <em> are </em>better between them, but she still feels a little awkward when they’re alone together, especially in enclosed spaces. </p><p>“He’s someone who’s gonna move our product, get that shit from A to B”</p><p>“Okay but <em> who </em>is he?” Beth huffs in frustration, rolling her eyes to which he just smirks at.</p><p>“Knew him a few years back, name’s Alexander, he’s uh, a little odd but good at what he does, discreet” Rio shrugs pulling up in front of a worn down building that would look completely abandoned if it wasn’t for the other car parked out front.</p><p>She looks at him in apprehension, she hasn’t done this in a while, has gotten used to being behind the curtain, dealing solely with Rio and people she already knew. Her hands nervously fiddle together which of course he notices.</p><p>“It’ll be simple yeah? In and out. Easy” </p><p>Giving him a small smile she gets out of the car, quickening her steps as Rio has already somehow exited the car and is waiting for her by the doors.</p><p>As soon as she enters the building she knows something is wrong. Rio glances at her quickly and she detects the slight hesitation in him, but then he’s walking over to the man currently pacing back and forth.</p><p>Rio eyes him carefully. Alexander hasn't noticed them yet, mumbling to himself and as soon as Rio set eyes on him he knew he was back on the drugs. Looks as though he’s back on the streets too, clocking the gun in the waistband of his jeans he approaches him slowly.</p><p>“Sup man” </p><p>Alexander startles not noticing he’s no longer alone, eyes settling on Rio before they jump to Beth. “Who’s that?” </p><p>“Elizabeth” Rio answers simply, nodding his head in her direction. </p><p>“She a cop?” Alexander sniffles </p><p>“She’s my partner”</p><p>“Nah man” Alexander laughs and the sound of it has the hairs standing on the back of Beth’s neck. “Ain’t nobody like you got a partner looking like that”</p><p>Beth steps forward about to intervene but Rio grabs her wrist stilling her, and for what must be a first for her, she actually listens to him, but Alexander has already reached for his gun.</p><p>“What is this Rio? You tryna put me away? Yeah they told me that, they told me, i shoulda known” he rants punctuating each word with a wave of his gun, his eyes wide and glassy and not really focusing on anything.</p><p>Rio inches his way forward, one hand hovering near his side. “Listen to me man, Demon set this up right? Told you I needed some product moving? that’s all we’re here for” </p><p>Alexander brings his hands to his head, gripping onto his hair, shaking his head laughing maniacally. </p><p>“Do I look fucking stupid? Demon didn’t mention no bitch” he growls, pointing the gun at Beth.</p><p>Rio sees it coming, how he tightens his finger on the trigger and in a split second he’s aiming his own gun at Alexander’s head. Both guns go off, Rio hits him first, Alexander crumbling in on himself but not before his finger squeezes the trigger, the bullet whizzing straight past Rio, and that’s when he hears it, the sharp intake of breath. </p><p>Rio whips around and it’s as though everything seems to move in slow motion. Beth stands there, eyes glued to the hands on her stomach, watching the blood seep through them before looking up at him, her face drained of colour and eyes wide in horror as she falls back to the floor.</p><p>The blood spurts out of her mouth and down her chin, she tries to cough, to catch her breath but that just makes it worse. She can hear someone yelling at her, over her, touching her. She tries to focus on it but they sound underwater, her sight all hazy, numbness spreading throughout her body.</p><p>
  <em> It was supposed to be simple, in and out. Easy.</em>
</p><p>She lets out a low groan that quickly turns into a loud strangled cry as someone pushes down on her stomach, <em> hard. </em>All of a sudden she feels everything, a fire blazing in her abdomen and side, the burn seems to travel around her whole body. The metallic taste in her mouth overpowering her senses, smothering her, she’s drowning in it. She feels someone touching her cheek, moving her head to the side and before she knows it she’s coughing, spluttering really, the blood painting the ground as she feels it running awkwardly down her cheek. Moving her head back was a lot harder than she expected, her head feels like when they would go bowling and she’d see Jane try her very hardest to lift the heaviest ball, her tiny body barely getting it to budge. </p><p>Her vision is clearing slightly now that whoever is hovering over her moves closer. It’s Rio. He’s here, with her. The memory of her shooting him and just leaving him on the floor, bleeding out assaults her mind, but, he hasn’t left, why didn’t he leave?</p><p>“Are you going to leave me?” she whispers, a tear slipping down her cheek.</p><p>“Mama I ain’t going nowhere, and neither are you a’ight” Rio grumbles, voice strong but she sees the worry dancing in his eyes, his jaw tense and his hands slightly shaking.</p><p>He’s still pressing his jacket down on her stomach, she can see his phone on the floor next to them, blood smeared across it so he must have called someone, but it’s okay, she doesn’t really feel anything now.</p><p>“Maybe it’s karma” she pants, drowsily tracing his features.</p><p>Rio ignores her, taking his shirt off to bunch on top of his jacket on her stomach, already soaked through with blood. “It looks like it’s a through and through, helps coming but we gotta stop this bleeding yeah? Elizabeth?”</p><p>“Elizabeth”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>She’d never thought too much about what dying would feel like. Assumed it’d be quick, either painless or painful until it wasn’t. But it’s always different when it’s you, the first hand experience, the lightbulb moment of ‘oh so this is what it feels like’.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>One more chapter left!! Sorry it’s taken me so long to post this, I have already started on chapter 3 so hopefully I won’t keep you waiting too long.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She’d never thought too much about what dying would feel like. Assumed it’d be quick, either painless or painful until it wasn’t. The night at the loft proved her otherwise. Watching in terror as Rio lay bleeding on the ground, breath staggering, colour draining, red staining his lips. Maybe it would’ve been quick, she didn’t stay around long enough to find out.</p><p>But it’s always different when it’s you, the first hand experience, the lightbulb moment of ‘oh so this is what it feels like’.</p><p>She’s sliced her fingers open a few times, in the kitchen preparing for bake sales or cooking a particular lengthy recipe for dinner and did what everyone else does, popped her finger into her mouth, grimacing at the small metallic taste of blood before getting to the sink, thrusting her finger under a stream of cold water. But having your mouth fill up, the only option to cough and spit it out, the metallic taste fills up all of your senses, it’s something different entirely. It’s suffocating.</p><p>They say your life flashes before your eyes, a slideshow of everything you’ve accomplished, everything you’d miss. It’s like being underwater, like you’re on the outside looking in. She sees her kids smiling faces, their milestones, hears the echo of “mommy”. Sees herself, Annie and Ruby, laughing over something ridiculous and probably not even that funny, nights on the couch watching reality tv and eating way too much popcorn. But to them, it was everything, just the fact they were together, had eachother.</p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <em> “Okay so, I feel like the alcohol is making me more chill about you going to bonetown with gangfriend…. TWICE. Nope. still ew, but like not?” Annie rambles “Just, like he seems like he’d know what he’s doing in that area like really know you know?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “No” Beth deadpans </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Ruby” Annie gasps, turning to the quiet brunette. “C’mon, don’t act like you don’t want to know, you were all like how was ittt” Annie imitates, hiccuping as she laughs to herself. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Ruby raises her eyebrow at Beth who gapes at her in mock betrayal. “Oh i do wanna know” she shrugs, winking at her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Out with it” Annie grins, tucking her legs underneath her as she settles in more comfortably on the couch. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Beth feels the blush flaming her cheeks. “It was…. I… He, no” she stumbles </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “That good huh?” Annie snorts </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “B come on, you don’t have to go into every little detail, we just want to understand” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “I mean I get it, the intense brooding vibes and Elizabeth” Annie lowers her voice to do her best impression. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “We just don’t see the side of him he is when he’s just with you, we don’t know that version of Rio” Ruby continues. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “He’s… attentive” she blushes, rolling her eyes as Annie barks out a laugh. “Why are we even talking about this now? Whatever version of him he was with me then is long gone” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Beth” Annie whines, about to push some more when a noise on the stairs has them all turning on the couch. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Mommy?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Ugh, saved by the babe” Annie groans, throwing her head back.</em>
</p><hr/><p><br/>She never thought he’d forgive her after she shot him, after she realized she never actually killed a man. She remembers how she hid the immense relief of finding out he was alive behind anger, fear and contempt, not that she didn’t feel those things, because she did, but she still couldn't ignore that spark of solace that settled deep in her chest at seeing him again, alive and breathing.</p><p>But, was this always going to happen? The life of crime catching up to her in a way that the only way out was death? She remembers the time so clearly when Rio ensured her he had her back, made it clear to her that he wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was she. That they’d do this partner thing together, for real this time.</p><hr/><p>
  <em><br/>“Sup ma” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Beth looks up from the mountain of paperwork littering her desk to see Rio casually leaning against the doorframe. She ruffles through a stack of notes, frowning in disheveled confusion as she looks back up at him, finding him smirking at her, hands deep in his pockets as he rocks forwards into the room, settling into the chair on the other side of the desk opposite her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Did i forget something?” she asks, head tilting in puzzlement. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Nah mama just thought I'd come see how our business is doing” a small laugh escapes him when she levels him with a glare. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “My business is doing just fine” she huffs </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Ours” he grins as she shakes her head, yet a smile gracing her lips betrays her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Spa man not fucked it up yet?” Rio asks, leaning back in the chair and folding his hands over his stomach. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Dean” Beth rolls her eyes “But surprisingly no, and i intend to keep it that way” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Good, that's good. I know you will” his eyes rake over her face before dipping to trace over her body, well the little he can see not blocked by the desk. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Beth clears her throat, blushing a little under his gaze and cursing her pale complexion as he clocks on to it right away, his lips quirking. “Was that it?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Rio’s expression turns serious, leaning forward in his seat. “How’re my guys doing?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Rio had stationed a couple of his younger guys as staff at Boland Bubbles, not taking any chances, not with Beth, against what usually proves to be his better judgement, Rio trusts her. It’s others who may figure out his involvement with this place that he doesn’t trust. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He sees something cloud over her features, so quickly before she's shrugging, avoiding his gaze as she fiddles with some papers. “Everythings great”  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Elizabeth” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “It’s nothing” she sighs at his intense stare. “Really, it's just one of them is a little handsy, always hovering, and i’ve caught him trying to look at the books once or twice” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Rio’s brows furrowed in confusion, his guys are there to tend to customers, he’s put them here to keep them out of trouble whilst keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of it. “Who?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Miles” Beth sighs, eyes squinting as he rocks his jaw. “What are you going to do?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Sort it” he shrugs. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Okay” she scoffs at his vague answer </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “C’mon ma don’t you trust me” he quips, standing up and patting her hand before walking towards the open door. “This works both ways but i got your back, partners yeah?” <br/></em>
</p><hr/><p><br/>Partners. But what happens if one is taken out of the equation?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The day he met Elizabeth Boland was the day his perspective changed, but only when it came to her. Albeit unconsciously at first until things between them became one big grey area. He didn’t pull the trigger, but in his mind he might as well have.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This WAS going to just be 3 chapters but.. I’ve already started on a chapter 4! Again, so sorry for the long waits in between chapters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>ONE MONTH LATER</strong>
</p><p>Rio let’s his weight rest against the tree as his gaze turns to the sky, it’s cloudy and drizzling which has the air thick with a heaviness that seems to be trying its best to seep into his bones, his mind and corrupt his thoughts. It’d never been like this for him before, never had an incident haunt his mind, then again in those situations it’s usually him pulling the trigger or authorizing the hit, and has already had a minute to come to terms with it, no surprises. That doesn’t mean he’s okay with it or enjoys it, he just knows how to manage that, has learned how to deal with that part of his job in his own way. That night was different.</p><p>He didn’t pull the trigger, but in his mind he might as well have. He saw the signs, he saw what was coming and should’ve gotten her out of there as soon as he set eyes on the guy. Rio can admit that he prefers to keep things with his job as black and white as possible, you’re in or you're out, you screw up? You die.<br/><br/>The day he met Elizabeth Boland was the day his perspective changed, but only when it came to her. Albeit unconsciously at first until things between them became one big grey area. But he isn't going to stand here and deny he had feelings for her, knew there was something between them, something that pulled them towards each other no matter how much they tried to ignore it. But, he had it under control, or so he’d tell himself. That night he felt all of his control slipping away and it replays in his mind like a broken record.<br/><br/><br/></p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Are you going to leave me?” she whispers, a tear slipping down her cheek. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Mama I ain’t going nowhere, and neither are you a’ight” Rio huffs, voice strong but she sees the worry dancing in his eyes, his jaw tense. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He’s still pressing his jacket down on her stomach, she can see his phone on the floor next to them, blood smeared across it so he must have called someone, but it’s okay, she doesn’t really feel anything now. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Maybe it’s karma” she pants, drowsily tracing his features. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Rio ignores her, taking his shirt off to bunch on top of his jacket on her stomach, already soaked through with blood. “It looks like it’s a through and through, helps coming but we gotta stop this bleeding yeah? Elizabeth?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Elizabeth”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio taps on her cheek a little harder than he’d meant to but it seems to do the trick as he receives a low groan in response, her eyes opening just enough to see his fuzzy form looming over her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Keep those eyes open for me yeah?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Beth slowly nods, tongue peaking out to wet her lips before swallowing harshly. The door to the warehouse slams open, the resonating bang slightly jolting Beth out of any near unconsciousness as she tries her hardest to decipher the voices around her, definitely hearing Rio call out to Mick, and is that guy just always lurking in the shadows nearby? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “We gotta move her man” Mick mumbles, looking sorrowfully down at the woman he’d actually come to like. She was built up of strength and resilience, she had guts and never backed down, he admires that. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> More of Rio’s guys trail into the warehouse, all of them avoiding looking in their direction as they head over to the other side of the room. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “You alright boss?” Mick pipes up, his gravelly voice echoing through the quiet warehouse shaking him out of his thoughts. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Rio’s jaw tenses, a small nod of the head all he offers up as his eyes trace over the warehouse, landing on his guys working in silence as they deal with Alexander’s body, Rio ignoring the pool of blood currently decorating the floor to his left. Itching to set this place alight already.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He’s about to respond when something has him snapping his gaze back to her to see her eyes have slipped closed, her chest a little too still. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Come on ma, wake up c’mon” Rio grits, eyebrows furrowed as his thumb runs back and forth over the apple of her cheek, slightly smearing her blood back and forth on her face but not even noticing.</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p><em><br/></em><br/>A bird landing on the branch above him snaps him out of his thoughts. He watches as it settles into its nest before chirping at another bird who quickly flies over to join it, tweeting happily as it explores the new space, funnily enough reminding him of someone else who finds enjoyment being in places they’ve never been before, invited or not.</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em> Beth hears her phone ping on the other side of the kitchen, rolling her eyes as she knows who it is, she had finally assigned him his own text tone, that way, depending on recent events and her mood, she could either just ignore it or rush to answer it. Deciding he can wait whilst she finishes frosting this batch of cupcakes for Jane’s class on Monday she picks up the piping bag, icing the cupcake with such concentrated precision that the noise her phone makes at another message coming through has her hand slipping. She sighs in frustration as she knows she can do this in her sleep, glaring at the phone she lets out a huff.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Wiping her hands on the towel she walks over to pick up her phone, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she sees he’s text her an address and then another message with just a question mark. She decides to just send one back before placing her phone back on the counter with the message thread still open, she lingers as it shows he’s seen her reply, expecting a message back that doesn’t come. She eyes the cupcakes on the counter, knowing she probably won't be finishing them any time soon she starts cleaning up, regularly checking on her phone as she moves about the kitchen to see if he’s replied, he hasn't.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Snapping closed the last tupperware lid she reaches for her phone again, knowing he hasn’t replied but checking anyway. Rolling her eyes, which she seems to do a lot when it comes to Rio, she lets out a low groan before walking over to grab her coat, pulling it on a little more forcefully than she intended. She looks down at her slipper clad feet, really debating keeping them on when she remembers what happened the last time she was out of the house with her slippers on. Kicking them off she slips on a pair of ankle boots, bending to do the zippers before grabbing her purse by the door, yanking it open before stilling, backtracking to the kitchen and swiping one of the tubs off the counter before heading back to the front door, letting it slam shut behind her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Beth pulls up outside an apartment building, a building a little too nice for it to be a meet or a drop, the unknown causing an uncomfortable flutter in her stomach but has her heart and mind racing in intrigue anyway. She exits her car, pulling her coat closed as the fall chill seems a lot more biting in the evening. She pushes open the heavy door to find herself in an elegant looking lobby, which despite seeing the outside of the building she still hadn't expected. Walking towards the direction of the elevators she smiles politely at an older woman walking by. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Arriving on the 11th floor, she heads down the hallway, double checks the number of the apartment on her messages before knocking. She waits with nervous anticipation as she hears footsteps nearing on the other side, letting out a breath she hadn't realised she’d been holding when the door opens to reveal none other than Rio himself. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He leans against the open door watching with amusement as her mouth opens and closes in confusion. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She stutters out a “What?” looking at her phone before back up at him.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “You gonna come in?” Rio smirks </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “I…” she lets out a noise which sounds like a mmhm but honestly she can't be sure, which has a blush flaming her cheeks as she slips past him into the apartment. His apartment… that he’d invited her to. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She hears the door close and turns to face him, he’s leaning back against the door, hands in his sweatpant pockets and… she’ll come back to that later, but “Why am i here?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Don’t have a fire escape this time, thought you could use the front door for once” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Beth scoffs incredulously. “Pot meet kettle” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Aight” Rio laughs, which has her lips quirking.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> He pushes off the door, walking slowly right up in her space which has a gasp catching in her throat, her head tilting up a little at the height difference which he takes as an invitation to run his thumb over the cleft in her chin, the back of his finger traces along her cheek until it’s curling a lock of hair behind her ear. She licks her lips which have his eyes immediately drawn to them before they lock back on hers, brown staring into blue until a beeping from somewhere behind her has hers widening. Rio tugs on her hair before slipping past her, a smirk still upon his lips. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She follows him with her eyes, this apartment not quite as open plan as the last but still being able to see into the kitchen from where she’s currently stood, content on watching him for a minute before her surroundings call for her attention, with one last look his way she steps further into his apartment. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Her eyes take in everything from his furniture to the art adorning the walls. She wanders over to the bookshelf in the corner of the room, curious at whether he’s a fact or fiction kind of guy, eyes lighting up as she recognizes a book she’s definitely sure she mentioned to him a few weeks ago. Pausing at the entrance of a hallway she spots 3 doors, one with a big blue M on which has her smiling softly. Deciding to quell her desire to explore further she heads back into the living room, over to one of the windows that gives her an impressive view of Detroit. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Whatcha think?” a voice comes from behind her, she turns to face him, letting out a ‘hmm’ as she casts her eyes appreciatively around the space once more. She heads towards the kitchen, placing her purse on the counter and he watches with silent wonder at what she’s doing when she spins back around holding a plastic tub. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Cupcake?”</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p><br/><br/>The crunch of leaves approaching him jolts Rio out of his reverie, sighing tiredly as he pushes away from the tree. </p><p>“Hey” </p><p>Rio turns his head, his lips curling into a soft smile. “Hey mama”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So turns out there’s another chapter... yay?<br/>This chapter was just getting way too long for what I have planned.</p><p>Also thank you to BreannaM13 for listening to me vent and complain and bounce ideas off, for giving me ideas and keeping me sane haha!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Beth strolls right up to him and his eyes follow her every step, his eyebrows slightly furrowed in concentration, not sure what he’s searching for exactly, any sign of discomfort he guesses. But she seems good, looks good. He nods his head in the direction of the bench and Beth follows the movement, smiling softly as she slips past him, heading towards the bench. Their bench.</p><p>Rio settles on the bench, fiddling with his beanie, eyes lazily taking her in as she pulls her coat tighter around her, burying her glove clad hands in her pockets.</p><p>Beth settles into the bench and breathes in the fresh air. The park is quiet today, not unusual for a Thursday morning. She spots a person passing through walking their dog, but other than that, the only sign of movement is the rustling of the leaves falling around them. She catches his gaze out of the corner of her eye and her lips lift in a soft smile, which of course he notices, smirking before casting his eyes around the park.</p><p>It’s not lost on either of them that this is the exact same position they were in on that day, and he sees when that fact fully dawns on her, her smile dropping as she takes in a shaky breath.</p><p>Rio places his hand on her thigh, squeezing it gently “You good?”</p><p>Letting out a soft sigh she lolls her head towards him, placing her hand over his. “I’m good”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Come on ma, wake up c’mon” Rio grits, eyebrows furrowed as his thumb runs back and forth over the apple of her cheek, slightly smearing her blood back and forth on her face but not even noticing.</em>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em>Mick watches on sadly. “Boss” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Is she ready?” Rio asks, sounding more than a little desperate, ignoring the concern in the man's voice.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She’ll have everything set up for when you get there, but bo…” </em>
</p><p><em>“Make sure they clean it up</em> <em>real good yeah?” Rio cuts him off, curling his arms around her waist and under her legs, gently lifting her.</em></p><p>
  <em>Standing up he jostles her slightly, letting out a sigh of relief when she groans. Her eyes are closed but she’s still responsive, she’s still breathing, and that has him moving faster out of the building. Mick follows him out, car keys in hand and Rio turns to him, urgent relief shining in his eyes as he nods for Mick to open the back door. He lays her down on the back seat, slipping in afterwards and laying her head on his lap, reaching down to keep the pressure of his jacket on her stomach whilst lifting his other hand to brush her hair out of her face.</em>
</p><p><em>Mick slams the driver's side door shut, pressing his foot down on the gas he hightails it away from the warehouse and in the direction of his sister's house.</em><br/><br/><em>His sister Natalia is an ER attending at Henry Ford. Being just two years younger than him, Natalia grew up alongside him and Rio, growing up on the wrong side of town, with the wrong kind of crowd and surroundings. She was almost very much a part of this life until he and Rio helped put her through medical school. To get her away from this life of crime she never really asked for but was raised into.</em><br/><br/><em>Her condition for letting them put her through medical school was that they turn to her when they need help as she knows</em> <em>all too well how they can’t exactly go to a hospital, knowing it’d only be a matter of time there before the police would be involved. That doesn’t mean he’s okay with it, him or Rio, feeling that flash of guilt every time they need her to patch them up. The fact that she has a whole medically equipped room in her house for this exact reason.</em></p><p>
  <em>Mick glances at the rearview mirror, catching Rio’s gaze for a moment before he pulls into the driveway. The drive had been a blur, a haze of lampposts glaring in the night and avoiding every red light whilst also going just under the speed limit as the last thing he needed was to be pulled over.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Having already called ahead to his sister as soon as Rio’s phone call opened with the words ‘It’s Elizabeth’, he’s not surprised to see Natalia waiting for them at the front door.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He jumps out of the car, rounding it to open the back door. Rio gently maneuvers Beth’s body up into his lap before exiting the car, his grip tightening on her as he rushes up towards the house.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What happened?” Natalia see’s the state of the woman cradled in Rio’s arms and pales, put her in a hospital setting and she can handle this stuff no problem. And despite having done this many times for her family over the years, it still has the unease crawling all over her body, knowing that one, she shouldn’t be doing this at all and two, this persons life? it’s all in her hands.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She got shot” Rio growls, pushing through the front door and towards the room tucked away at the back of the house, Natalia hot on his heels as Mick stations himself outside the room.</em>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em>“It’s a through and through but she’s lost a lot of blood” Rio places her down on the bed, scrunching his nose at the metallic smell mixing with the sterile odour of the room, looking towards Natalia in confusion when he notices she’s not moving.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Rio she needs a hospital, I don’t have the….”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio shakes his head cutting her off. “Has to be you” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Natalia looks over at the blonde woman, she can tell clear as day that this woman means something to him. Letting out a sigh she nods. She assesses the whole situation in front of her, knowing what she needs to do, knowing she can’t do it with him in here.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I need you to leave the room”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Nah” Rio shakes his head</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Rio I'm not asking” Natalia seethes, softening at his expression.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Look, she’s going to need a blood transfusion, does she have any family? Because I'm going to need you to work on getting someone here to help me do that. I can keep her stable until then.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio nods, reluctantly leaving the room, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. Locking eyes with Mick he clears his throat. “Need you to go get her sister”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mick peaks around him at the closed door before settling back on the tired man in front of him. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You got it boss”</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Annie said you came by at night” Beth breaks the silence, turning to face him to find him looking at her intently. “Every night” she adds. Rio drops his gaze, back to focussing on the beanie between his fingers.</p><p>“Why? I mean...” she wonders, letting out a sigh. “Why didn’t you come by when i was awake?” she whispers, as if any venture into talking about their feelings towards each other would shatter the carefully crafted bubble they’d created.  </p><p>Rio clears his throat, looking over towards the man throwing a stick for his dog. “Didn’t think you’d want me there, your sister sure didn’t” he looks back at her, doe blue eyes boring into him quizzically. “Kinda my fault ma”</p><p>That has Beth’s eyes widening, a breathy laugh laced with disbelief escapes her lips “What?”</p><p>“Knew as soon as we walked in and saw him somethin would go down. I shouldn't have brought you there, you didn’t need to be there, and that’s on me”</p><p>Beth scoffs, shoulders rising defensively. “We’re partners, right?, why wouldn’t i be there?”</p><p>“Elizabeth” he starts, tearing his gaze away from her but she cuts him off, shifting on the bench so her whole body is facing him.</p><p>“You couldn’t have known that was going to happen, you couldn’t have done anything differently, and what you're doing now, blaming yourself? isn’t going to change anything, trust me i know” she utters the last bit quietly and it has his eyes snapping back to hers.</p><p>“I don't blame you” she breathes. “For any of it”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Sup dude?” Annie greets when she sees who's on the other side of the door.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I need you to come with me” Mick grunts softly, eyeing the house warily.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What? i’m…” Annie scoffs before a realisation dawns on her. “Beth?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mick’s nod has Annie’s face paling, tears quickly stinging her eyes as she pulls on her shoes, uttering a “Wait here” before she’s running up the stairs.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie quietly opens the door to the spare room, sitting on the edge of the bed she starts to shake the sleeping body.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What?” Ben groans in annoyance, one eye opening.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I need you to listen out for the kids okay? They’re sleeping like so it’s fine it’ll be fine but i might not be back for breakfast so i need you to hold down the fort okay? But don't cook anything just, there’s like 12 different kinds of cereal here and they’re all organic so just... go to town” she babbles.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ben pushes himself up, sitting back against the headboard. “Wait, what’s going on?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It's… it’s Auntie Beth, somethings happened so I gotta go okay?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Is she okay?” Ben frowns</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah… i don’t know” Annie sends him a watery smile, trying her best to reassure him. “Will you be okay here?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ben nods, not trusting his own voice. Annie kisses his forehead before heading towards the door.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Mom?” Ben calls, waiting until she turns to face him and he sends her an encouraging smile. “It’ll be okay” </em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <em><br/>Mick fills her in on the drive, and she feels as though she must've experienced every emotion possible on the way. Pulling back into the driveway, Mick leaves the car and is almost to the front door when he notices the younger Mark's sister isn’t following him. He heads back towards the car, opening the passenger side door and giving the woman a sympathetic look.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You good?” Mick asks, internally cursing himself as, of course she isn’t good. He shifts awkwardly on his feet not quite sure what to do or say. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie doesn’t even hear him, still staring out the front windscreen. This is her big sister, someone who has sheltered her from a lot of things growing up, always been the strong one, the voice of reason when it comes to them both. Annie isn’t sure she’s ready to walk in there and see her big sister in a way she never could have imagined. Letting out a deep breath she shakily makes her way out of the car, looking over at the house in apprehension before nodding at Mick. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie follows him through the house, not quite sure where they’re going when her eyes land on Rio. Her eyes are drawn to the mass amount of blood staining his clothes and she suddenly feels the need to vomit.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Where is she?” Annie whispers</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio pushes away from where he’s been leaning against the wall and knocks on the door to his right.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Tal”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie steps back as the door opens and a woman probably a little older than her, who has the same eyes as the tatted out gangbanger next to her walks out. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hi, I'm Natalia” she smiles, noticing the younger womans red rimmed eyes. “Did my brother explain everything to you?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie nods, her eyes leave the woman and bore into the room behind her. “Beth?” she chokes out.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Natalia glances at Rio, swallowing harshly before sending Annie a comforting smile. “It looks worse than it is okay? I’m confident that she’s going to be okay, but she’s lost quite a lot of blood, and we need to replace that as soon as possible.” Natalia explains gently </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You’re the same blood type?” She double checks.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie nods, clearing her throat. “Yeah, yeah O positive”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Natalia smiles at her, motioning for her to follow her into the room. Annie’s breath catches as soon as she lays eyes on her, Beth has always been pale but she looks as though all the colour has drained from her, almost grey. Her eyes travel over the monitors and IV she’s attached to, even though she knows Natalia is a medical professional, seeing the room look exactly like one in a hospital somehow has her feeling a little better. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She’s sleeping?” Annie wonders, eyeing the oxygen mask covering her sister's face warily. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I sedated her” Natalia informs as she bustles about the room, finding what she needs to start working on the transfusion. She instructs Annie to sit on the chair close to the bed.</em>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em>“Does she really need that or is it just like a procedure thing?” she rings her hands together, feeling increasingly uneasy, just wanting to climb onto the bed and curl up into Beth’s side.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Natalia looks over her shoulder to see what Annie is talking about, letting out a little laugh that eases Annie’s nerves. “Yes, she had a little trouble breathing but nothing too concerning, it was probably due to the shock, because see this?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Natalia points over to a number on the monitor, Annie following wide eyed. “Her levels are already improving”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie lets out a shaky breath, nodding her head in understanding.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Okay” Natalia says, coming to stand in front of Annie. “Relax your arm for me”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Natalia ties the tourniquet around Annie’s arm, reaching for the needle before locking eyes with her. “Just a little scratch”</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <em><br/>Annie leaves the room, taking in steady breaths as that room was starting to feel suffocating, almost like she was in some weird sort of twilight zone, that what's happening can’t really be happening. Leaning back against the door she tries to catch her bearings from the past hour, her hands are shaking and she can feel the tears welling up in her eyes again. She needs… she needs Ruby. Patting her pockets she sniffles when she realises she forgot her phone.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie spots Rio in the living room, angrily discussing something with Mick, but she can see his face. He looks exhausted, worried, lost. She’s not been blind these past couple of years, she's probably the most observant out of all 3 of them honestly. Has watched this man practically undress her sister with his eyes since day one. She doesn’t fully understand whatever string keeps pulling them towards each other, doesn’t understand it at all really. Beth’s a suburban mom of four and he’s a scary tattooed gang leader. Why her? Why him? All she knows right now is him being responsible for her sister lying in the next room with a gunshot wound.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why was she even with you? Why did you need her there?” Annie questions, her voice shrill as she walks over to the two men.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio’s jaw ticks “We’re partne…”</em>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em>“Partners, so you both keep saying. Was this included in the job description for that or?” Annie interrupts sarcastically.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She has four kids, little kids. Did you know that Emma and Jane still need her to tuck them in and read them a bedtime story at night? She does all the crazy weird voices and everything. That whenever they go out in crowded places Danny practically glues himself to her side? And Kennys just a mama’s boy in general” she hiccups, wiping her cheeks before sending him an icy glare, her small frame vibrating with anger.</em>
</p><p><em>“I don’t care who you are, you can shoot me for all I care but this is on you” she seethe</em>s.</p><p>
  <em>“Anything happens to her? It’s on you”</em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Well here we are… months later! Happy 2021 guys!<br/>I’m so sorry about the delay, I have no excuse other than writer's block is a bitch!<br/>But surprise, again… there will be another chapter after this! There was just way too much to unpack here in this chapter.</p><p>I promise I’ll try my hardest not to leave it this long between updates!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Why was she even with you? Why did you need her there?” Annie questions, her voice shrill as she walks over to the two men.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio’s jaw ticks “We’re partne…”<br/><br/>“Partners, so you both keep saying. Was this included in the job description for that or?” Annie interrupts sarcastically.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I don’t care who you are, you can shoot me for all I care but this is on you” she seethes. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Anything happens to her? It’s on you”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio tenses his jaw but stays mute as he takes her in, a little fiery blonde he had assumed Elizabeth spent her life looking after, picking up after. But he now sees, it goes both ways. Maybe not to the exact same extent, but it’s clear Annie would fight for her sister, has been for a long time, has always tried to get her to know her worth, that she’s more than what she’d spent 20 years believing she was with her dumbass ex. To Annie, Beth is her everything, except her kid, she’s never truly had anyone else. He’s brought out of his thoughts when he sees both Mick and Annie are staring at him., realising he’s missed part of a conversation.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So can i borrow your phone?” she asks, eyeing Rio strangely.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio rubs his jaw tiredly, eyeing the door at the back of the room. “What for?” he asks distractedly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie seethes, about to tell him it’s none of his business when she lets out a deep sigh of defeat.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“To call Ruby because i kinda left my kid in charge of Beth’s kids and whilst my son is probably a lot more mature than me, he is just a kid.” she huffs, wiping a stray tear off her cheek.<br/><br/>Mick watches the two of them, notices his boss isn’t really paying attention, eyes still drifting down the hall. He digs his phone out of his pocket, holding it out to Annie who takes it gratefully and heads down the hall to step outside. By the time he turns back around he sees Rio slipping through the back door, Natalia stepping out not long after.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie tiredly pushes the front door open before sitting down on the front porch steps with a sigh, letting the night chill seep into her bones a little, breathing it in deeply as she holds the phone with a shaking hand. Bringing the phone to her ear she listens to it ring, and ring until..</em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Hey guess who this is? You guessed it. Guess what you have to do now? You guessed it.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie hangs up before redialing, feeling her breath begin to quicken as she once again gets Ruby’s voicemail. She redials again, feeling her chest tighten as the phone keeps ringing before a sluggish “Hello?” echoes through the phone.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>At that moment Annie feels the sob burst out of her. “She’s just laying there, with the wires and so pale which is crazy cus she’s the whitest person I know and her hand was so cold, there was so much blood and she was so still, what…  What if she’s not okay? What if she doesn't wake up? I need her to wake up” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ruby scrunches her eyes, rolling on to her back as she tries to understand what on earth Annie is talking about. “Girl will you slow down? What’s going on?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Beth’s been shot” Annie chokes out.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ruby sits up in bed with a start, turning on the bedside lamp and jolting Stan awake. “Where are you?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie looks around at the street and back at the house, having been so out of it on the drive over she really has no idea. “Mick’s sister's house, she’s a doctor. But I left Ben with the kids at Beths and… Ruby I don't know what to do” she sniffles before whispering “I’m scared”<br/><br/></em>
</p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <em>Rio closes the door softly behind him, nodding at Natalia who’s sitting in the chair by the bed. She smiles at him softly, encouraging him to come closer. “She wont wake up for a while” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio nods, eyes glued to Beth and Natalia stands up, clearing her throat. She walks towards Rio who's finally removed himself from being plastered against the door, now stood cautiously at the end of the bed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You should sit with her, talk to her” she suggests</em>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em>“Nah” he utters, but it's weak and his eyes still haven't managed to tear themselves away from Beth’s sleeping form. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Natalia frowns, taking in his tired complexion, the blood still staining his shirt grabbing her attention. Deciding to give him the space he’s obviously craving, she turns to double check Beth’s vitals before leaving.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Well, i'm going to go find you a clean shirt, you look like shit”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Without realising it, Rio's feet are moving him towards the chair Natalia vacated. His eyes drag over every inch of Beth’s body. The IV lines protruding out of her porcelain skin, the darkness deep under her eyes, but even he can see the difference. A slight blush framing her cheeks now, not the unnerving grey she’d been an hour ago. His eyes snap up to the monitor when something beeps, heart calming in his chest when he sees it's just Natalia.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You did good” Rio observes and Natalia rolls her eyes, heading for the door when his voice has her turning back around.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Tal” he nods at her, face softening. “Thank you”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hearing the door close he has an inner debate with himself before reaching forward to take Beth’s hand in his grasp, the first thing he notices is that it’s warm. His thumb strokes over the back of her hand, tracing the path of her veins down to her wrist before gently turning her hand over to do the same to her palm. Letting out a breath he cradles her hand between both of his.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“C’mon Elizabeth”</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p><br/>Beth pulls her hat down a little, covering her forehead from the chill, Rio’s reaction to this whole ordeal causing her eyebrows to scrunch together in confusion. He blames himself.</p><p>“Why?” Beth asks quietly.</p><p>“Why what?” Rio asks indifferently, feeling something sink inside him when she just sighs.</p><p>Rio swallows harshly, leaning forwards as his elbows rest on his knees. “I know I push you, try to make you somethin that you ain’t” he sighs.</p><p>“You don’t need to be me and it took me a while to realise that, that the way you handle things works… and that I can’t keep putting you in these situations where you’re the one that keeps getting hurt” his head swings to the side slowly to look at her.</p><p>“Can’t do it Elizabeth” </p><p>Beth stares at him, mouth agape as she takes in what he’s said, feeling raw and exposed under his gaze. She knows that this has to be affecting him in such a way for him to be open with her like this, be honest and take that first step into them finally vocally acknowledging there’s something deeper between them. So she guesses they’re doing this now.</p><p>“I lied to myself for a long time,” she starts, clearing her throat. “And you always knew, knew I wasn’t just doing this for my kids, that I liked it. After twenty years of Dean taking the reins and then being a stay at home mom and doing the same thing over and over again, being <em>Bethie</em>, I finally found something I was good at, I found me” she smiles at him sadly.</p><p>Rio sits up, back flush against the bench, watching how she’s now avoiding looking at him, focussed on playing with her fingers so he reaches out, placing his hand on top of hers stilling them. He squeezes her fingers before tugging them gently, getting her to look back up at him.</p><p>“I got in way over my head, wasn’t ready to admit it to myself, to you.” she sighs, hair peeking out under her beanie and into her eyes as she shakes her head.</p><p>“If anything I pushed you. Why did you let me keep coming back? Why didn’t you ki… why am i still here, why are we partners?” she stutters, eyeing him cautiously, cursing the tears threatening to spill over.</p><p>Rio reaches up, brushing her hair out of her eyes, tucking it back under her hat. “Told you, thought you could be something, and you are”</p><p>Beth stares at him intently, eyes flitting back and forth between his lips and eyes. “What’s that?” she whispers. </p><p>“Who do you think you are?” He asks, lips curling when she rolls her eyes. “You’re whoever you wanna be mama, and that’s enough”<br/><br/>Beth finds herself unable to to tear her eyes away from him, blue eyes tracing his every feature, landing back on his eyes that are boring into hers and she feels herself blush. Clearing her throat she looks out at the park in front of them.</p><p>“So what happened to…” Beth trails off, waving her hand around like she just knows he has to understand what that means.</p><p> Rio smirks at the change of subject. “S’all taken care of mama”</p><p>“You really had to burn down the building?” Beth quips, laughing a little as Rio looks at her in stunned confusion,</p><p>“Annie” she explains. </p><p>“Ah” Rio nods. “Was an eyesore anyway ma” </p><p>Beth rolls her eyes and mutters something he can’t quite make out. “Well Jane overheard that her aunt knows someone who burnt down a building and just thinks it's the coolest thing”</p><p>Rio chokes on a laugh. “How they doin’?” he asks, noticing how Beth’s eyes light up the minute her children are mentioned, a content smile framing her face.</p><p>“They’re good, happy to be home” she sighs, eyes rolling but a smirk playing upon her lips. </p><p>“Although Emma mentioned that they shouldn’t have to go back to Deans for the same amount of time they couldn’t be with me, which Jane heard and is now outright refusing to let me out of her sight, the only reason I’m here now is because she’s at school” Beth laughs.</p><p>“She didn’t fight you on that?” Rio’s eyebrow quirks.</p><p>“Oh no, she did. Kept sliding drawings under my door of us working together and her school on fire.” Beth says, eyes narrowing at him but her smile widening at the bark of laughter that erupts out of him, his head flailing back as it shakes his whole body.</p><p>“Mama she a trip” </p><p>“Yeah” Beth murmurs, laughter dying down, something clenching in her chest as she remembers Ruby telling her how she told her children she’d been hurt. </p><p>Her youngest two didn’t really understand until she came back to the house, pretty much bed bound still as she couldn’t bend, walk or move really, doped up on painkillers Natalia had sent her home with. All went to hell when she was walking back from her bathroom by herself, which Ruby had yelled at her for, for at least 20 minutes.</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <em><br/>Beth wakes up to the sound of bowls banging together and squealing from the kitchen, Ruby’s loud exclamation of “Child!” bouncing off the walls, causing Beth’s lips to quirk, already knowing Jane is giving her a run for her money. Ruby and Annie had been taking it in turns to, as Annie put it “Babysit Babygirl” with Ruby staying overnight as she had Stan at home for Sara and Harry, and Annie would come by around lunch.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Shifting slightly she eyes her pills and water on her bedside table, she manouvers herself to sit up against the pillows, grabbing the pills gratefully, swallowing them down with the water when she notices a post it note stuck to her pyjama top with “shout when you need me” scribbled on it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Still hearing noise from the kitchen and a faint shout of “flip it again” she realises Ruby is making her famous animal shaped pancakes. Deciding not to bother her she carefully swings her legs off the bed, slipping her feet into her slippers and using the bedside table to help steady her as she slowly stands up, letting so she tests her balance, smiling proudly to herself when she manages to stay upright without any pain or dizziness. <br/></em>
</p><p>
  <em>Beth shuffles into her bathroom, slowly managing but managing non the less. Whilst she brushes her teeth her mind drifts back to him. The man she hasn't seen or heard from in over a week, since her last day at Natalia’s and he drove her and Annie home. But there’s been a couple of nights that she could’ve sworn she heard him in her room, felt her bed dip, faintly smelling his aftershave lingering in the morning. Annie brushed her off, saying he’s probably busy after everything before quickly changing the subject. The only reason she wasn’t blowing up his phone was because Mick came by 3 days ago with an expensive bottle of bourbon courtesy of ‘the boss’ for when she’s all better.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Still lost in her thoughts she turns off the bathroom light, closing the door behind her and deciding to head into the kitchen when her slipper catches on the rug, flinging her forward and straight into the dresser. A cry rips out of her throat at the blazing pain shooting through her side, immediately realising she’s torn her stitches.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The next thing she knows, her bedroom door is slammed open as Ruby comes rushing in, Jane and Emma both behind her and Beth watches as their eyes widen in fear, their little faces draining of all colour at the blood she can feel seeping through her pyjama shirt. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>That’s why the next morning, after both Emma and Jane had carefully slept beside her that night after Natalia came by to reapply her stitches, she’d sent them off to Dean’s moms for the week.</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Thanks for the bourbon by the way” she quips. “You could have just brought it by yourself you know, plus you didn’t really answer me before”</p><p>Rio shrugs, sucking on his lower lip “What’s that?”</p><p>“You came by at night, when you must've known Annie wouldn't be there, who ended up finding out anyway so why? where have you been?” Beth asks, watching as Rio hesitates. </p><p>“You just disappeared after I left Natalia's house” she adds quietly “If Annie hadn't told me, and you had to know she’d tell me, would you have just left for good?”</p><p>Rio shifts, eyes squinting a little as the sun beams around her, bouncing off her golden curls resting on her shoulders. His hand lifts and without realising it he’s cupping her chin, face softening as her breath hitches. Studying her he lets his eyes bore into hers before following the slope of her nose down to the purse of her lips.</p><p>“Tried leaving you ma, turns out i can’t”</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <em>Rio startles as the door opens, not knowing when his eyes had slid shut. Annie walks in carrying another chair, placing it down next to Rio’s and then tugging on it, moving it over slightly when he raises his eyebrows at the closeness.<br/><br/>“He know?” Rio asks, as Annie settles into the chair next to him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What?” Annie sniffs</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Your kid. He know what’s going on?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“He knows she’s hurt,” Annie shrugs sadly. “I had to tell him something”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Your friend…” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Ruby, man. Her name is Ruby” Annie rolls her eyes cutting him off.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She comin?” Rio asks.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“No, she wanted to come but she’s gone to the house so the kids don’t wake up alone, she knows that’s what Beth would want her to do” Annie explains.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio nods, his silence urging Annie to continue.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I don’t want her to do this anymore” she admits, eyes tracing over the wires and machines currently attached to her sister's body. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“But i know even with this'' she waves her hand over Beth’s form. “She wont want to leave this life, leave you” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio stares at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Annie looks at him, takes in his perplexed expression, her eyes widening in realisation.<br/></em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You have no idea do you?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio raises his eyebrow, startling slightly when Annie slaps her thighs, twisting her body in the chair to face him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Listen buddy I don’t know if she’s in love with you or what but there’s something, and I know it’s not just her. If you weren’t who you are and currently armed with a deadly weapon I’d say you’re in love with her” she shrugs, smirking slightly “But you are, so I won’t” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rio contemplates a response when she cuts him off.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She won’t leave, so you need to”</em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“You, me, we…” Beth feels her whole body freeze. “It’s never been just business” he finishes and all of a sudden she can’t breathe.</p>
<p>“Not since the moment i met you, dropping your groceries all over the floor”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The last, final, FINAL chapter, for real this time!</p>
<p>I wanna thank all of you who left kudos, comments and just shown this story so much love, I appreciate every single one of you!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Tried leaving you ma, turns out i can’t”</p>
<p><em> ‘Tried leaving you ma, turns out i can’t. Tried leaving you. Turns out I can't. Tried leaving. I can’t. I can’t leave. I can't leave you.’  </em>The words ricochet around her mind, seeping into every part of her and she feels something bloom in her chest but also feels that heat weigh her down, it’s comforting but she can’t help the part of her that still panics.</p>
<p>Beth's eyes widen, her mouth feeling as dry as sand. </p>
<p>“What?” she whispers</p>
<p>Rio sighs “You, me, we…” Beth feels her whole body freeze. “It’s never been just business” he finishes and all of a sudden she can’t breathe.</p>
<p>“Not since the moment i met you, dropping your groceries all over the floor”</p>
<p>Beth’s mind spins, not from him admitting it was never just business, she always knew. The way he avoided her gaze on the bench when he told her that, called her <em> ‘work’ </em> in his car, called her a charity case, that he didn’t need her. <em> I don’t need you, I don't… I need you. </em> She’s more shocked at the fact that he’s telling her this. He’s always seemed to say more to her with a look than he would ever convey with actual words.</p>
<p>Her mouth opens and closes, not sure what to say. “Was there ever a moment that you knew, that you had decided to… to kill me?” she chokes out.</p>
<p>“Never mama”</p>
<p>Her head whips up at that, eyes searching his. “Not after…” She trails off, eyes still trained on his, unable to look away even when he does, stretching his legs out in front of him.</p>
<p>Rio lets out a deep sigh, shaking his head as his eyebrows furrow. “Thought about it when i was recovering and then i was pissed, hella pissed. At you, but more at myself because I knew I couldn't do a damn thing to you, had to face the fact that I didn't want to, couldn’t.” </p>
<p>Beth nods, swallowing harshly. “Where do we go from here?” she asks quietly.</p>
<p>Rio juts out his bottom lip. “I don’t know” </p>
<p>Beth nods, can’t seem to get herself to stop. Can’t get her mind to stop spinning about what happens now? Does she walk away? Could she? The thought has her leg bouncing slightly. During the past few weeks, getting shot, her best friend and sister having to care for her, help her do basic tasks, look after her kids… oh god her kids, their faces, they’ve had to deal with both their father and mother being shot within the span of a year. Annie has been clinging to her, wanting to know where she is or where she’s going. Ruby practically moved in with her, only recently going home. She knows she can’t keep doing this, isn’t entirely sure she wants to anymore, but at the same time doesn’t know who she is or what to do without it. And maybe that’s a sign she should leave. Crime that is. Beth knows she couldn’t leave both, leave him.</p>
<p>At her silence he continues. “Better together though yeah?” Rio turns to her, placing his hand on her leg to still her, smiling softly when her eyes jump to his.</p>
<p>His hand rises, softly brushing the hair away from her eyes, tucking a lock behind her ear, tugging on it gently when she leans her face into his hand.</p>
<p>“I have some ground rules” Beth starts, smile widening when he throws his head back, laughter spilling out of him.</p>
<p>“You do? A’ight mama let's hear em” Rio grins, eyes gleaming.</p>
<p>Beth situates herself more comfortably on the bench, catching the eye of an older couple who pass them, smiling at them softly. She watches them walk toward another bench, hands grasped firmly together.</p>
<p>“Communication. We need to start talking to each other, really talking. No more secrets, no more leaving each other out of the loop. We need to make sure the other is aware of everything that’s going on or what needs to happen.” she starts, smiling internally when she notices he’s intently listening to her, taking this seriously.</p>
<p>“We can do that” Rio nods, mirroring her position on the bench.</p>
<p>“I don't want to do this if i’m just here to do your dirty work” she starts, seeing him about to say something when she continues “If we’re going to be actual partners <em>and </em>work partners” she clarifies “I need you to include me when you’re making decisions and really include me, not just tell me what i want to hear or what you think i need to know.” </p>
<p>“Okay” Rio simply agrees.</p>
<p>“Wait really? that’s it? It's that easy?” Beth asks, voiced laced with disbelief.</p>
<p>“Mama I can't with the back and forth anymore, we both wound each other up real good and most of that is on me but I don't want us to go back to how we were before” Rio sighs. </p>
<p>“Making the same damn mistakes, putting us in situations we might not be so lucky with next time. We gotta work together, trust each other. Only way this is gonna work”</p>
<p>Beth opens her mouth, before closing and opening it a few more times and she knows she must look crazy but she can’t seem to find the right words, taking her time with her brain processing everything he just said as she also doesn’t want to say something stupid, something that doesn’t express just how much she feels the same way. They both almost died in front of the other and have caused each other so much grief, so much that could've been avoided if they’d made different choices, simple choices that they were just too stubborn to submit to.</p>
<p>Shooting him is something she’ll never be able to fully forgive herself for even if he has, the guilt eats away at her little by little, but every day it gets better, and she realises that being around him now makes that guilt a little lighter, and she finds herself happier, content.</p>
<p>“So, not just work partners?” Rio asks, eying her fondly, bringing her out of her thoughts as he can practically see the wheels turning.</p>
<p>Beth reaches down to his hand still placed on her leg, brushing over his fingers lightly before intertwining them. She bites her lip, eyes crinkling as she shakes her head. </p>
<p>Rio grins at her, teeth biting the corner of his lip as she tugs on his hand pulling him into her. Letting go of her hand his fingers trail up the underside of her arm before sliding around her waist, feeling her own hand glide up his chest, curling around his shoulder, her thumb stroking back and forth over his jaw, as she pulls him closer, his nose slightly bumping into hers. </p>
<p>His breath tickles her lips as her own hitches, his grip on her waist tightening when her lips slightly graze his and she feels her body melt into him when he closes the distance. She almost forgot what this felt like, kissing him, how it made her body burn whilst simultaneously sending a shiver up her spine, feeling like it’s too much whilst never enough.</p>
<p>She pulls back, forehead resting against his, smiling when he places one last kiss against her lips. Pulling away she grasps onto his hands tightly before tilting her head at him expectantly, not exactly sure what to do next when he stands, gently pulling her to her feet.</p>
<p>“Ready to head home mama?”</p>
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